A Second Chance
by Kellendraysia
Summary: There are times when even the cruelest robots are given "A second chance."
1. Prologue

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A Second Chance

Prologue

"Are you working on your project again?" the sound of a rich male voice reached her ears as she was toying around inside of what looked like a human body.

She stood up and brushed a lock of ebon hair back over her shoulder, a lock that had slipped free from its bindings in the high bun. As the young woman did this she smudged a nice line of red up over her right eye to disappear into her hairline just behind her ear. She set the pair of instruments that she had been using down on the cart next to the table. 

"Yes, yes dear brother I am working on _my project_ again as you like to call it," she replied back with a smile. 

She then reached over and picked up a towel to wipe off her hands as she turned to face her brother, the same loveable man that she has lived with all her life. The two were inseparable, one would swear that they were identical twins, though that was impossible for they would have to be of the same sex for that to be true. They were fraternal twins that would put most identical twins to shame with the bond that they share. She shook her head in thought as she cocked it to the side; she watched him he stood by the door, waiting. His odd miss-matched eyes following her about her task as she started to walk away from the table.

"I think that he can wait a little bit longer," she said with a smile. "I haven't brought his system online yet so it is safe to leave him the way he sits right now."

"Will you have to worry about contamination?" Her brother asked, "you look like your going to leave him wide open."

"I'm not leaving long enough to let that happen!" she exclaimed with a light laugh. 

She again looked up at her twin who was actually only a half an inch taller then her standing at five-foot, seven and a half inches. His eyes sparkled oddly for his left eye was slate blue while the right was gray green. His right eye was artificial, a cybernetic replacement that she had made and installed after the accident. That had been quite a fright for this young 24-year-old, when she saw that a rampaging Maverick had removed half of her brother's face. That sent her on a focused mission to not only save her brother's life but restore his face as well. She was glad to have Guri and Draka close at hand.

"That reminds me how much of the corrupted memory have you been able to decipher?" She asked after a few moments of silence.

"I'm getting closer to half," the man replied back as the pair walked down the hall. "It's damaged far worse then what I thought, sis." He said with a shake of his head sending his dark ebon locks swaying.

"That is not a good sign," she replied with a soft sigh, before reaching up to rub her forehead with her right hand. "Damn, I wish I could have gotten there sooner."

"You did the best that you could Khoal," the woman's brother replied as the stopped by a door on the left hand side of the hall. He reached out and hit the keypad and the door to the room slid open. He then stepped to the side so that his sister could enter. "None of us knew that the attack on the gallerea was going to happen. Truthfully I found it more disappointing that they were going to scrap so many of the robots there that had sustained damage. A quite a few of them were in such good shape. Here we are, I'll show you what I have done thus far."

"I know what you mean bro," Khoal replied as she stepped into the room. "I'm just glad that we could salvage all that we did. Unfortunately they only allowed us to take three of the robots and that was like pulling teeth to do so."

The room that the pair entered was frequently called the Cerebral Matrix, for those who wished to call the room something. The circular room was spotless and kept in a neat and tidy order. This was the one room that had to stay organized, there was too much at stake for it not to be. If the memory rods within the room were ever to be mixed it would take weeks, to months, even years to go over all the data that was stored in this room and return it to its catalogued slot. The room was run by Slate, Khoal's twin, he was the one who could best delve into the minds of others. In this case he was working on extracting the data information that resided in the mangled body of a robot, several decades old. Data information that would one day would be restored to a functioning body, in the line of memory rods. 

In the center of the room was a large circular pad that looked much like a capsule by its structure. Hanging from the ceiling above the pad was a series of tubing and wires with a variety of different attachments. Some of them were attached to a mangled robot. Around back half of the circular room was a large computer set up with a variety of different functions from scanning to identification, extraction to data crunching, and much more, all the necessary components to obtain data from complex mechanical systems. A variety of tools were laid out on a table next to the chest high circular pad, all within easy reach of the high stool set by the pad as well.

"It appears that you have been quite busy?" Khoal remarked as she walked over to the table to see how the 'patient' looked.

There really wasn't much left of the black robotic form, it consisted of a partial chest, one complete arm, and the head. The other arm was mangled from mid-shoulder down to the elbow the rest was missing. What was left of the head was heavily damaged as well, more then half of the left side face had been stripped away, down to raw circuit boards and wires beneath the metal skin. A good portion of the lower jaw was gone, what was left was crushed inwardly and embedded in the back of the skull. The right side was mostly intact with the exception of a few large dents. What would consist of the top portion of the robot's skull had been removed to reach the internal CPU system that served as this robot's brain. There were several connecting wires and tubes run into the robotic brain that served as up-links to the computer systems in the back of the room.

"I have been quite busy, no thanks to you," Slate replied in jest to his sister, as he walked towards the back of the room. "I can tell you one thing, this has been quite the project."

"I can believe it," Khoal called from her spot by the pad, as she stood by the robots head she reached out and touched the its face with a gentle hand, careful not to disturb any of the wires in the process.

"Why don't you come over and take a look," Khoal's twin said over his shoulder as he sat down in a chair and began to type in what was needed to bring up the schematics of what he had finished so far. 

"Coming," Khoal said, after one last look down at the robot before she turned away and started over to the computer. Once there she leaned on the back of his chair with one hand so she could get a better look at the data at the bottom of the large screen. 

"Hmmm, looks like you have got a good portion of this sorted out into rods already," she commented, as she scanned over the screen before pointing at a section towards the bottom of the screen. "What is that?"

"That, dear sister, is the problem that I have run into," Slate replied, "I have started to delve a bit deeper into the more damaged areas of the CPU and this is what I have been coming up with. It's not all that serious, it is just time consuming to sort through. I believe these last four rows," he points at the screen as he talks, "will fall into place with a little bit of work." 

Slate then looked up at the woman as she leaned over his shoulder. "It is the heavily damaged areas that I am worried about, that data may be lost or too full of holes, to even be worth saving," he explained as he shook his head. "I won't know till I reach them though."

"Looks like your coming along at a steady pace though, even with the slight set backs that you have had so far," she replied with a smile, her tone sounding a bit more relieved. "You had me really worried at first when you said that there might not be much left to salvage when we first brought this one in."

"Yes, I'm glad it has been going this well, much to Guri's dismay I might add," Slate replied with a light chuckle.

"I know, I know, he has been against this project from the beginning," she responded as she stood up. 

"You don't seem to bothered by this, sis," he replied as he swiveled the chair around to face her. "Are you not afraid that he might try to do something to damage the project?"

She shook her head. "No I'm not worried at all. Guri may be vocal about not wanting me to complete this project but he would never do anything to jeopardize it, it's not in his nature to do so."

"Ah, I see," Slate said with a smile.

"Well I better get back to work," Khoal responded, "you should too." She then turned and left Slate to his work as she returned to her own.


	2. Re-Awakening

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A Second Chance

Chapter 1: Re-Awakening

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" A tall form asked from the shadows of the doorway to Khoal's laboratory, his voice carried a deep resonating tone. "Was he not dangerous enough in the past? What do you suppose he will do here and now in the present or in the future for that matter?"

"You worry to much, Guri," Khoal replied from her spot by the table, that had been rotated to what would be a standing position with a form strapped down securely so not to fall off. The form looked much like that of the mangled robot that Khoal's twin had been working on down the hall, now that it had been covered in armor. Truth be known he was still working on it, as the damaged areas were becoming harder and harder to repair.

The form strapped to the table appeared as if it were sleeping, the new armor that had been placed upon his body shined glossy black. Several tubes that looked much like IVs ran in and out of his right arm. He looked much like the Reploids that were now so common to see in this day and age, but in fact he was so much more.

_System coming online_, read the computer screen, _all systems green, ready to start final countdown in 5…4…3…2…1…system is now fully operational._

She waited and the seconds seemed to crawl by like hours, there was no movement. Had she done something wrong? But what, what had gone wrong? Khoal was just about ready to panic all that hard work for the system not to work.

Then there was a flutter of heavy lids before they slid open to reveal crimson orbs. Slowly he turned his helmeted head of black and tarnished gold from side to side, as he tried to get his eyes to focus. "Wh…where…am…I?" came a rasped question from his lips. "H…how…"

"Easy," Khoal said softly as she walked around to stand before him. She reached out a hand to touch a finger to his lips, silencing him. 

"I know that your going to have a lot of questions but please try to relax, you've just been revived," she explained the best she could at the moment. "I'm going to release the bindings so that you can move about. It will be good for you to do, to make sure that your system is running smoothly."

The eyes of the figure standing in the door narrowed slightly. Guri did not like the idea that she was going to let this one walk about the complex given what is know about what his previous incarnation had done. A long tasseled tail twitched behind him, showing his disposition about Khoal's choice to re-awaken _him_. 

"Are you sure that it is safe?" He called from his place by the door. He was no longer going to leave, just in case something might happen.

"Guri, I know what I am doing," she responded coolly as she removed the tubes from his arm before she started to remove the straps one by one.

The figure on the table just watched Khoal work, what else could he do? He was confused, so thoroughly confused. _What has happened to me_, he thought, _where am I? What am I doing here? _So many questions plagued his mind. Once the last strap had been removed he took a tentative step down. His metal encased foot landed with a resounding clang as he stumbled slightly.

Khoal moved forward a few paces to catch the stumbling form. "You may find yourself to be a little weak and unsteady for a couple of days. Think of it as waking up after a long sleep and needing a recharge," she tells the dark armored figure.

"I guess… that you could… say that," he responded to Khoal as he leaned on her a bit as he tried to regain his balance and center of gravity. His sentences started to flow smoother and smoother from his lips. 

"Thank you," he added simply as he straightened up and looked about the room again, his eyes came to rest on Guri's shadowed form in the doorway. "Who is that?"

Guri frowned, when he found himself being watched ears flattened a bit tighter against his skull for just a moment. His tail twitched more spastically as his irritation grew. He in truth didn't know why he was bothered by this new addition to the team, he just was.

"That would be Guri," Khoal said in answer to the question looking over at the shadowy form. "Why don't you come in and introduce yourself," she said with a smile.

Guri rolled his eyes and gave his head a soft shake before entering the room. Guri was huge, standing well over six and a half-foot tall. A soft resonating clang sounded with each footstep as the Leonid entered the room. He was a unique Bioroid, for his form was that of a bipedal lion. His body color was a rusty red coloration with a black mane and tassel. Slited eyes of amber traveled up and down the newly awakened Bioroid before him. He stood there arms crossed about his chest, he was dressed in a pair of heavy pants and a loose shirt, armor was not needed when he was not on duty, though at the moment he wished he was wearing it.

"Forte, I'd like you to meet Guri," she said to the black armored Bioroid, as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Guri, this is Forte."

Forte held a hand out to Guri, in which the Leonid looked at his hand for a few moments before he reached out and took it in one of his own. "Nice to meet you…" Forte said, as he gave Guri's hand a shake, not sure of what to say or do for that matter.

"Yes," Guri responded evenly.

"Guri," Khoal said with a light laugh, "be nice."

The Leonid set out a soft sigh as he was chastised before he added, "I hope that you will find this place a great source of learning." He then reclaimed his hand and turned to leave the room.

"Guri, before you leave, have you seen Draka?" Khoal asked as she watched the exchange between the Leonid and the Bioroid.

Guri paused in his motion towards the door and looked over his shoulder. "I believe that she is still out on assignment," was all he said before he headed out the door.

Forte stood there not sure what to think, he raised a hand to his head, rubbing it with his two for fingers. "Did I do something wrong," he said all of a sudden.

"No, of course not," Khoal responded softly as she took Forte by the arm and started to lead him out of the room. "Guri is just…temperamental… at times. That and sometimes it takes him a while to get used to new people."

Both of her statements were true, but what Khoal lacked to add is that Guri didn't trust Forte one bit. She figured that at this point in time she was not going to worry about it, unless Guri said something that was far too inappropriate then what he should.

"Come on," Khoal said with a smile, "I'll show you around," she added as they left the room. 

"Ok," Forte said with a light sigh, what else was he to do? He was in a strange place, where he had no idea what was going on, so he just let himself be led around.

They walked down one of the seemingly endless hallways of the complex, past the door that led to the Cerebral Matrix and down towards the control center, often called the war room by Guri. Forte looked about in curiosity apparently quite a bit had changed since he had gone off line. The complex itself was quite large and halfway though the maze of hallways he had stopped trying to memorize which direction that they had come from as well as which way they were going. The echoing sound of a large door shutting could be heard as they reached the control room. 

"Here we are," Khoal said as she opened the door and waited for Forte to step inside, at the sound of the metallic thud she turned her gaze down the hall to her right. "It appears that Draka has returned," she said with a light amused smile upon her face.

Forte just nodded as he stepped past Khoal and into the control center and he stopped a few paces in, blinking. He hand not anticipated the room to be quite this large, Before him the wall was pane of think glass, which overlooked a large hanger. The wall to the left was completely dedicated to that of a large computer, it had to span nearly thirty feet width against the wall. The right wall was full of shelves of all sorts with equipment and charts and other things. In the center of the room was a large table that was fit with a complete holo-grid, surrounded by several chairs. Forte looked around the room slowly trying to absorb everything that he saw and nearly jumped out of his armor at a light tap on his back that caused him to look over his shoulder.

"Sorry to interrupt your curiosity, but I would like to get into the room, please," Khoal said with a cheery smile on her lips just before she gave the taller Bioroid a light push.

At the push he stumbled in a few steps, obviously his motor system was not up to full compasity yet. "Sorry," Forte managed to say just before he caught himself on the table in the center of the room. His armored hands landing with a metallic sounding clack against the metal surface of the table.

"Don't worry about it," Khoal said with a smile as she walked in behind Forte as he steadied himself before standing back up straight again. She walked over and gave him a light pat on the shoulder before walking over to a chair before the computer. Pressing a few buttons an image came upon screen. It was a partial view inside the Cerebral Matrix. The visual image gave out before it reached the circular pad in the center. A setting that she had programmed in for a good reason at this point in time.

"Slate are you there?" she called into the COM.

All of a sudden a form whirled over to be in front of the screen. "Yes, dear sister," came Slate's response before his mouth just kind of dropped open when he saw Forte. "Why didn't you contact me earlier!"

"You were busy and I didn't want to interrupt. I know how much of a stickler you can be over that, bro," Khoal responded with a wide grin.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," Slate said enthusiastically before he disappeared off screen. "Draka! Get out of the way girl!" could be heard from somewhere out of video rang as well as a bunch of loud clanging followed by a loud thud and a muffled "ow."

Khoal turned away from the screen with a soft chuckle after she turned of the COM and the video connection to the Cerebral Matrix.

"What was that all about?" Forte questioned as he stood by the table looking down at Khoal.

"That would be my brother, I would say that he's just a tad bit excited wouldn't you," Khoal added with a sly grin before she motioned for Forte to sit down. "Have a seat, it will be more comfortable then standing," she added.

"I believe that would be an understatement," Forte commented back a bit dryly over Slate's reaction to seeing him. He looked over his shoulder at one of the chairs before turned moved to sit down in one. "Why was he so excited anyway? I really don't think that I appear to be anything special."

"If only you knew," came Khoal's reply with a light shake of her head. "You're far more special then what you could ever imagine. That and Slate has put quite a bit of time and effort to help bring you back from the dead, so to speak."

Outside in the hall there was the sound of scrambling metal feet, four of them by the sounds of it before a muffled voice shouted out, "Easy boy!" Followed by a metallic clank and the shaking of the door.

"Would somebody pick him up before he knocks himself silly," came the muffled sound of Slate's voice from outside of the door, followed by the sound of metallic claws scrapping on the door. The sound of struggling came from the other side of the door as well as a yelp that sounded vaguely dog-like.

"Easy boy, easy," came the muffled sound of another voice, this one more feminine. "See, that's better, be a good boy and you'll get a nice yummy copper bone out of this."

Forte swiveled the chair to face the door at the sound of the thud. That wasn't something that he was expecting to hear. He leaned forward, his elbows on the arms of the chair as he tried to figure out exactly what was going on. Khoal just sat there hands folded up before her chin to hid her smile. She had forgotten to mention this to Forte upon his awakening and she felt that it was no use telling him now, when he would see what was going on in a few moments.

After things had apparently calmed down outside the door, it suddenly slid open to reveal, Slate, Guri and one other form that was hard to see behind the two. Slate came in first followed by the Leonid; there left to stand in the doorway was a reptilian Bioroid.

The Drakanid was quite tall, almost as tall as Guri; her coloration was a deep blue with amethyst eyes. A dragonish head with two long horns was supported by a short thick, but flexible neck. A crest could be seen folded down against her neck took on the resemblance of hair. The arms and legs of this Bioroid were long and sinuous. Three long fingers adorn each hand as well a long thumb. Feet formed in a gargoyalian fashion with three thick toes supporting long talons and what looked like a dewclaw. A long tail snaked out behind her, swayed softly. There she stood, holding the squirming form of Gospel, Forte's faithful dog companion, and a smile on her reptilian lips.

"Lookie what I found," she said jovially as she walked in. Once in the light it could be seen that she was wearing a pair of holy blue jeans and a purple tank top.

Forte's mouth just dropped. He couldn't believe it, "G…Gospel!" he said in shock.

This caused the dog to explode out of the Drakanid's grasp and charge across the short spance of the room to get to Forte. The black armored Bioroid held arms open and was soon knocked over chair and all by a one excited canid.


	3. Re-Aquaintance

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A Second Chance

Chapter 2: Re-acquaintance

Khoal couldn't help but laugh at the sight that unfolded before her. A soon as Forte had uttered the canid's name he was not only knocked over but being licked to death on top of it with the black armored Bioroid trying to fend himself off on top of it. 

"Glad to see that the pooch is happy," the reptilian Bioroid said with a toothy grin as she too chuckled at the antics of the two.

"Gos…bleh…. Gosp…" Forte started before he had to spit out dog slobber, then the laughter came as the canid was starting to tickle the poor Bioroid. 

"Gos…Gosp…Gospel!" he wheezed trying to catch his breath between fits of laughter.

This was too much for Khoal and she raised her hand to her mouth and let out a sharp whistle, which caused the canid, to look up at her, tongue lolled out of his mouth before he charged over to her. There he sat down and placed his paws in her lap and waited for pats, which she gave.

"What a good boy," she cooed to Gospel, the purple canid just grinned at her happily.

Inwardly the woman sighed, knowing that the temperament that Gospel showed right now was far from his original personality. At the time she had such a problem with his system that he had to be brought online before any of the original memory had been restored. The personality that resided within the purple canid was nothing but a learning program with a temperament that would not drive Draka too crazy in the process. Guri had refused to work with the dog and she was not going to leave the task fully to Draka if Gospel could have been restored to his original state within the new canid body. Gospel's memory restoration would have to wait, for several reasons, not just for the sake of Draka sanity.

After Gospel got off of him, Forte managed to get himself turned upright and wiped the nice layer of slobber off his face before getting to his feet. "How?" he questioned as he looked around the room. Still not quite balanced he nearly fell over when he slid in a slick spot of dog drool as he tried to right the chair.

"Easy there sugar," the Drakanid said as she grabbed hold of Forte by the arm to steady him. "Slate and Khoal will be able to answer all your questions."

"Forte, this is Draka," Khoal said with a light motion to the Drakanid, with her free hand. "Draka, Forte."

"It's a pleasure hun," Draka said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you…" He said as he looked to Draka's hand then back to her face. "As well and ahh…thanks…for the…uhhh… hand," Forte added as he regained his balance.

Guri stood there in silence, shaking his head as he watched the whole entourage of canid attack Bioroid happily. _What would the reaction have been if dog memory was complete?_ Guri thought, _besides the fact that I would have wanted to destroy it by now_. He then rolls his eyes at Draka's pleasantries to Forte; it was just about enough to make him sick. The tall Leonid then walked around the table and took a seat in front of the large window, waiting for the others to sit down as well.

Slate will be the next to take a seat just to the left of Khoal, she may not be sitting at the table yet but he knows where she will sit when she does decide to move. "Draka is right, Forte, we will do what we can to answer your questions," the man said with a smile. Slate's mismatched eyes showing his sincerity towards the newly awakened Bioroid.

The woman gave the canid one last pat before she got up and moved to take her place at the table. The canid followed after her practically on her heels before returning to Forte since the man seemed to be steady on his feet once again. Once there Gospel sat down at Forte's feet as the Bioroid stood next to the table, hands on the back of the chair, newly set back upright. Forte looked down at Gospel for a moment, a light smile formed across his lips before he moved around him to sit down in the chair. He then looked around from face to face to face before his gaze came to rest upon Khoal, the only person that was the most familiar to him at this point in time.

"Where am I?" Forte asked, the first question to fall from his lips that would soon be followed by several more. Maybe then some of his confusion would die.

"You are in a place known as the Inner Sanctum, sometimes know as the Bioroid Headquarters. It normally depends on our daily mood on which name it is called," Khoal started to explain before she let out a sigh. "How to explain all of this," she placed a hand to her forehead. She was never good at explaining time gaps, especially in this sort of situation. 

At this response Forte, looked from Khoal to the others about the table before his gaze returned to Khoal. He didn't know how to take this initial reaction. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"No, nothing is wrong," Khoal said with another light sigh. "It is just trying to figure out where to start with an understandable explanation." She then shook her head and placed her elbows on the table, before she laced her fingers together.

Forte nodded as he leaned back in the chair and placed a hand to his chin in thought. He then reached up and pulled the helmet off his head and set it upon the table. Its black and tarnished gold areas glittered slightly. Black hair fell in a wild fashion framed his pale face, caused the purple tattoo like 'smudge' lines that ran under each eye and down around his jaw line to stand out brightly. He ran a hand part way through his hair, before he closed his eyes and leaned back a little farther in the chair. Legs crossed at the knee as he used the one-foot on the floor to keep his balance. 

"Don't worry hun," Draka said speaking up after a few moments of silence as she watches Forte. "Things that have happened are not the easiest to explain, so just be patient. Khoal will answer your questions to the best of her knowledge to be sure. It just may take some time."

Crimson eyes slid open at the sound of Draka's voice and he sat back up and finished the motion of running his hand through is hair before he placed his elbow upon the armrest. He then leaned his chin against his hand as he looked at the Drakanid. "I know," he said in agreement to the reptilian Bioroid's words. "I doubt that it is easy for any of you in this situation. Maybe a better thing for me to ask is why is it that you awakened me?" He asked as he turned to face Khoal again, crimson eyes meeting slate blue ones of the woman at the end of the table.

"It is more then just simply re-awakening you, Forte," Slate said all of a sudden as gestured slightly with one hand.

This caused the black armored man to swivel in his chair to face Slate, a dark brow lofted in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What he means Forte, is that you were not always a Bioroid," Khoal started softly. "You were a robot, one that has not been active in over 46 years. Your remains were in a galleria, as a display of 'ancient' technology since by today's standards," there was a pause. "Robots of your design were creations of the past."

"When the galleria was demolished by a rampaging Maverick, four months back was when Khoal and I went and rescued you, Gospel and one other from the rubble of the building," Slate started to explain as his sister's voice had dropped a bit, picking up were she had left off. "Unfortunately we were not able to acquire anyone else."

Forte looked back and forth between the twins, as he leaned back in the chair. A bit intrigued at how they could complete or at least compliment each other's explanation about what had happened to him. He again lofted a dark brow at what he had heard thus far. 

"So I was re-awakened on a whim?" He said with light disdain. "If that is the case then I would have preferred to be left off line."

"NO!" Khoal responded quite loudly in shock, as her gaze focused steadily upon Forte, as the Bioroid looked at her twin. "No," she said a bit softer and under more control. "That was not the reason that you were re-awakened. There are a couple of reasons why you were re-awakened. First and foremost it was to learn." 

Draka and Guri turned to look at one another for a moment at the outburst from Khoal. It was not something that they saw often, so they both remained quite. Neither of them sure what to do or say in this situation. Both of their gazes turned towards Khoal at the same time, to watch the woman that was their creator.

There was quite a look of shock on Slate's face as well, even his jaw dropped slightly. He shook his head as his mouth shut with a soft click of teeth. He was not quite expecting that sort of response, though his sister had warned him that something like that might happen. 

"To learn?" Now this question was asked in total confusion. Forte then swiveled the chair the slight bit needed to focus his attention back on Khoal.

"Yes, so much information of the era that you were originally created in was destroyed. There is not much technology left to even learn from. The Galleria was the only place that is…" there was another pause in Khoal's speech as she corrected herself. "Excuse me…was the only means of learning about past technologies. Now even that is gone. Most of the robots that were left were destroyed, regardless of the damage that was done to them. Slate and I tried to acquire more robots to see what we could learn from the past and the best way to learn of that past is from a functioning creation," her voice just trailed off again. 

__

I can't say it, Khoal thought as she closed her eyes, _I simply can not say it_. She just could not bring herself to say robot, even though that was what Forte had been. She had never actually thought of him or any of the other robotic creations of the past truly as robots. The internal struggle was apparent on the young woman's face as she sat there.

Now two brows are lofted, now in concern for the woman. _What is going on?_ Forte thought as he watched Khoal. "Are you all right?"

Slate looked at his sister in silence, he knew what thought was running through her mind and he had to admit he felt the same way. There was actually very little difference from robots that were made during the days when Dr. Light and Dr. Wily were friends, turned to bitter enemies. For all intents and purposes they were very basic Reploids, they had emotions to some degree, the difference was that they were not capable of overly complex thought processes. Where most other robot on the other hand were nearly devoid of this capability. He had discovered that, in Forte's case much to his surprise that robotic CPU brain had been the most advanced system that he had seen, compared to what he had discovered in mangled head remains from other projects, when they were allowed to get them. There was a higher level of thought involved as well as complex decision making, in Forte's case he was the closest that Slate had seen to a Reploid in almost every aspect of brain function, the major exception being a full use of emotions. 

"I'm fine," Khoal replied as she opened her eyes again to look at Forte. "We had found you to be heavily damaged and data extraction of your memory was nearly impossible to achieve if we left you in your former state. You see the data that serves as the memory system in a CPU brain when extracted needs to be put into some sort of readable form. How that is done here is it is downloaded into what we call Memory Rods. They are small data compiling units," she paused and looked over to Slate. "I think that Slate had better finish this explanation. I know how it works, I designed the process, but I have never been able to explain it properly." She explained as she gestured to Slate.

Forte nodded to Khoal, signaling that he was ready for her to continue before he actually leaned forward in the chair, resting his elbows on the armrests he laced his fingers together and leaned his chin upon his hands. To listen to the rest of what she had to say. He maneuvered the chair so that he could focus his attention on Slate when the woman had gestured for him to start speaking.

Slate nodded at the gesture before he turned his full attention on to Forte. "The computer system here is not like most other systems. It runs on a technology that is actually more advanced then even most military systems." Slate said to start his explanation as he gestured a bit. He was always one to talk with his hands. "Because of this advancement, straight robotic CPU systems are not that compatible. They can function yes, but when it comes to extracting data that is as sensitive as that of memory it can be a bit of a problem. That is why Khoal created the Memory Rod system. This allows for data to be sorted into small compiling units by similarities in pattern. The system is sensitive enough that it filters out system information with only minuet, but important differences. This sorts the data into specific information rods that can be placed into an advanced 'brain' system for the lack of a better word."

"Because of this 'brain' system, as Slate has called it. It is easier to just reconstruct an entire functioning unit then bogging down the 'central brain' unit in the Cerebral Matrix," Khoal chimed in. "That way our systems stay free for other needed information gathering and other functions needed to support this underground complex. That and you now have a chance to explore not only your past, but take a steps towards the future that you might never realized possible," this is where Khoal decided to leave off for now, to let the information try to sink in.

During this whole time of explanation, Forte looked back and forth between the two siblings as he remained very quite. Now that that Khoal had stopped talking he leaned back into the chair again, slowly as he tried to digest all the information that was given to him, hands held before his mouth in thought.

The Drakanid and Leonid watched in curiosity. They had actually heard this explanation before, but each found it intriguing in their own way to watch another go through the same process of explanation. The only major difference between themselves and Forte is that they did not have a pre-existing form in the past.

He sighed, not knowing fully what to think or to expect for that matter, Forte dropped his hands back into his lap and looked at Khoal for a few long moments in silence before he spoke. "What do you hope to accomplish? I still don't understand the importance of what you have done."

Khoal sighed again as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, eyes sliding closed as she started to get frustrated. What could she do? She didn't know how to explained what she hoped to accomplish. 

"I don't know what you're expecting me to tell you Forte," Khoal stated, lowing her hand as slate blue eyes slid open, before shaking her head. "For me this is a learning experience, an experience of the past as I strive towards the future with tentative steps. Your re-awakening is a learning process for not only myself but for Slate as well. To catch a star you must first know how to reach for it. The same is true for technology, if you cannot look at creations of the past to learn from then ones steps towards the future falter."

"As I had said before, it was but a whim," Forte said as he stood up, eyes narrowing slightly before he added. "What of Gospel? Did you re-awaken him for some form of perverse pleasure as well?"

Both Guri and Draka's jaws dropped at the accusations that Forte directed at Khoal, even Slate's jaw dropped a bit as he blinked at the black bioroid. Khoal didn't even flinch, at least not visibly; inwardly the words that Forte spoke wounded her deeply.

"How…" Guri snarled, eye narrowing as he got to his feet after finding his voice. He looked as if he was ready leap over the table and pounce upon the bioriod upon the other side. "…. dare you!"

"Guri…." Draka started as she too stood up, she really didn't want to see a fight break out right now.

A snarl was all that was Guri's response to Draka as he put a large hand out to push her away if needed to be able to get to the 'offensive' creation across the table. His long tail lashed back and forth angrily as his ears flattened against his skull.

"Guri!" Khoal snapped in an authoritative tone as she stood up, placing her hands against the smooth surface of the table. "Sit down now!" 

Guri's head snapped up as he turned to look at Khoal, the tone in her voice caused him to stop. He slowly sank back into his seat, ears perking up just a little from there angered state as his snarling vistage melted away into a look of mild shock.

The harshness of Khoal's tone drew all the eyes in the room to her, even the canid that was still laying at Forte's feet looked up at the woman. There was a great deal of strain upon the woman, it was evident in her features as she stood there leaning upon the table, long ebon locks falling haphazardly around across her shoulders. Her gaze turned to Forte as he stood by the table, on hand resting upon the back of the chair as a dark brow was lifted.

"Do you honestly think that I would be trying to explain things to you if I had re-awaken you for my own perverse pleasure?" Khoal said as a beginning answer to Forte's accusation as she stood up a little straighter. "If I had re-awakened you for my own 'perverse pleasure' do you think that you would be standing here as you are right now?" The woman paused a moment, to let that information sink in. "I highly doubt it, for if my pleasures are so perverse as you accuse them of being then you would be bowed down at my feet at this very moment."

When that was said and done the woman swept out of the room without even looking back. She had had enough at the moment, the day had been a long and tedious one in truth. She no longer had the patience or emotional stability to handle anymore questions from the arrogant bioroid. She knew that he was going to be a difficult one to deal with, but she had hoped that he wouldn't have been quite the pain in the ass that he had been as soon as he had re-awakened.

Everyone watched the woman go, no one saying a word. Forte sat back down in his chair. Fingers laced together as he swiveled the chair to face the door as it slid closed behind the woman. He was not sure what to think at the moment, part of him felt that he should be highly irritated with the woman, the other part of him was still highly confused.

****


	4. Frustration and Uncertainty

****

A Second Chance

Chapter 3: Frustration and Uncertainty

After a few moments of sitting quietly within the room with Slate and the others Forte rose to his feet. He turned slowly and picked up the helmet off the table, looking at each person in turn. He then sighed and looked down at Gospel.

"What are we going to do boy?" he asked the metallic canine, who perked his ears in response before turning on purple paws and whining as he looked at the now closed door. Forte sighs, "What?"

The Canid walked over to the door and started to scratch at it, then looked back over his shoulder at the black bioriod. Gospel then turned around and sat down by the door with another whine.

Guri was about to say something when Draka put a hand on his arm to quite him. She then leaned over and whispered in the Leonid's ear, "watch."

Slate remained quite, his mind a whirl with thoughts as well as the emotions that he felt swirling within his sibling, with their sharing of an empathic bond. This was not going to be an easy situation to deal with at all. Given Guri's reaction to the Bioroid once already this evening. Not to mention that with the memory that was added already there was hints at that darker personality of the past. Part of him was wondering if Guri was right, that Khoal was making a big mistake. But he believed in his sister, that there could still be a good outcome to all of this.

The black Bioriod crossed his arms about his chest, the helmet still held in one hand, now dangled by one elbow as he looked at the canid. He then walked over to the door and opened it, his motor skills greatly improving while he was stationary as his system had time to recuperate from the initial awakening startup. Looking down at the Gospel he said through slightly grit teeth. "There happy, now."

The canid looks up at Forte and whines again before looking out the door. Standing up he walks half way through the door before coming back in the room and pawing at one of Forte's armored feet. He then turned back around and headed for the doorway again as if trying to get Forte to follow him.

"What do you want?" Forte nearly hissed as he was starting to get overly frustrated with the canid. This was not a good thing for he was already highly frustrated with this entire situation that he has been thrust into.

Gospel walked back to Forte, then back towards the door again and stopped. Turning he looked at Forte and let out another whine before adding a bit of a bark for emphasis.

"Fine," Forte replied to the canine's insistent actions as he rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to throw his hands up in the air. "Go," he waves to Gospel and followed the purple dog out of the room.

***

"Now that was interesting, don't you think Guri? Much better then you getting involved now wasn't it," Draka said with a smile as she looked at the tall Leonid that sat next to her.

Guri sighed, he was not happy but what could he do at the moment. Khoal had it made it quite clear to him in just a few words that he was to leave the black bioroid alone, at least for the moment. He turned his amber gaze to Draka, with a bit of a snort, before saying. "I would hardly call that interesting."

It was Guri and Draka's conversation that finally drew a bit of a look from Slate as it caught his attention. Eyes of blue and green shifted from one form to the other as they conversed if that is what you could call it. More like a one-sided conversation if the truth be known, with Draka leading it. Guri was not one to talk much, especially when he was angry. 

"Well at least he followed the pup," Draka stated, with a slight frown at Guri. "Much more then what could have been expected if he was intact, hun. Otherwise it might have been a bit more messy," she paused and turned to look at Slate. "At least that is what I would assume."

"I really couldn't stay," Slate said with a shake of his head as he pushed his thoughts to the side. He then turned his gaze towards the door where Forte and Gospel disappeared. "There is a distinct possibility that it could have been worse. But then again who's to say that it is not already worse since he does not have his full memory back." He then returned his gaze to that of Guri and Draka. "It is possible that he could be more dangerous due to the lack of memory over a completed memory."

Guri's eyes narrowed what Slate had to say. "Then why did you let Khoal activate _him_ if there was a possibility that _he_ was going to be more dangerous," the Leonid said with a light growl, ears flattening slightly. He did not like the idea that Forte may be more dangerous now then what he may be later.

"Because there is just as likely of a chance that he will not be dangerous," Slate stated a bit blandly. It was always hard to explain things to Guri when he was being thick headed. "Sometimes one must be willing to take risks."

Slate then stood up, he figured that there wasn't going to be much that he could say that would change Guri's perspective at the moment, besides he still had a lot to do. He walked around the table and headed out the door with a light sigh and a shake of his head. There were so many possibilities, too many possibilities of what could happen next, he just prayed that the out come would be favorable.

***

Khoal sighed as the door slid closed behind her in her lab; she leaned against the smooth, cool surface of the metal door for a few moments as she tried to get her thoughts in order. She stood up and continued over to one of the tables in the room and started to leaf through some of the written notes she had about Forte's progress, she was a bit worried and now starting to doubt her own decisions. 

"What am I going to do," she murmured to herself as she sat down in a chair beside the desk. "I tried to explain…" her words trailed off with a soft sigh. "Maybe it would have been better to wait longer, when more of his memory would have been complete." 

Swiveling the chair she stood back up a few papers in hand as she went over to the small computer unit against one wall, or at least small in comparison to the one in the main control room and the Cerebral Matrix. She looked down at the papers as she typed one handedly at the keyboard pulling up information stored within, basic diagrams of system progress as well as her own journals upon her research.

"Damn it!" Khoal said a she slammed the book closed that she had in her lap as she pushed the chair away from the computer. The chair rolled backwards till it bumped into the table, halting its movement. She placed an elbow upon the desk and dropped her head onto her hand. _I don't know what to do_, she thought with a sigh. _What can I do?_

***

Gospel lead Forte through the maze of hallways quite easily. At first the black Bioroid ignored most of his surroundings as he followed along where ever the Canid was going. His frustration fueling his lack of interest, till small odds and ends objects began to catch his attention. The change in entry panels to the door or different ways of lighting the hallways were what started to distract Forte from his glower mood. Little would he know that the canine was taking him through the complex the long way around to the destination that only the Gospel knew.

Pretty soon Forte was looking about the hallways with more and more interest. He noted the change of lighting and entry panels from section to section though he had no idea where he was. He stopped along the way at a large set of thick glass windows. Inside was a fully cultured garden, complete with its own small grove of trees as well as a wide meadow. He placed a hand to the glass as he looked down upon the green growth with its artificial sunlight filtering down upon the quivering leaves of the trees. A bark from Gospel turned his attention away from the large cavern as the Canid sat waiting patiently upon his haunches, head cocked to the side as it studying the Bioroid.

"What?" Forte said as he turned to face Gospel, as he crossed his arms about his chest.

The Canid just cocked his head in the other direction; ears swiveled forward, flaring out a bit as he listened to Forte. It was not like Gospel could give him a verbal answer. He let out a light whine as he dropped his head a bit before letting out another yipping bark and standing up, tail wagging behind him.

"Well lead the way then," Forte replied to the Canid's actions, as he rolled his eyes and shook his head as Gospel started off down the hallway. He shrugged before he started off down the hallway once again.

***

Slate walked through the silent hallways back to the Cerebral Matrix, lost in thought. He had a lot of work to do and he was unsure of how easily it was going to be accomplished now. Part of finishing the actual work will be restoring Forte's memory. That may be difficult now if they cannot get him to trust Khoal and him. He punched the keypad by the door and is slid open soundlessly and he stepped though.

"To make him understand, that is the ultimate challenge at the moment," Slate murmured to himself as he sat down next to the mangled robotic remains. "I bid you good luck my dear sister, for I have a feeling that he is being guided to you."

The man then submersed himself in his work, knowing that it would take his mind of the worries and doubts that have slipped into his mind with his first encounter of the black Bioroid. Slate's work would keep him occupied for the rest of the evening meaning that it was going to be a challenge to even get the man to eat. That challenge would be left to either Guri or Draka depending on who found him first.

***

Guri and Draka would find a way to occupy themselves around the complex. There was always something to be done. Mostly it would consist of making sure that all the machinery and vehicles were running smoothly before each would head off their separate ways to find their own personal work to do. Assignments have been few and far between for the pair right now. Draka's assignment was nothing more then a training exercise for Gospel or Pooch, as she loves to call him.

***

There was a soft scrape upon the door to Khoal's lab causing the woman to look up. She sighed and she stood up knowing who the scraping was coming from. Walking over she opened the door and looked down, not paying attention that there was someone standing behind the Canid.

"What do you want boy?" Khoal said with a light quirk of a smile at the odd colored mechanical dog.

Gospel looked up as the door opened then over his shoulder at the figure standing behind him drawing the woman's gaze to follow. Khoal just seemed to freeze at the moment, not sure what to do or expect at the moment. _Why in the hell_… she thought as her brows furrowed together.

It was obvious that Forte was caught a bit off guard as well as he blinked his crimson eyes and took a slight step backward. A frown then crossed his face as he looked down at the canine, who just wagged his tail. He then placed one hand upon his hip as he looked at the woman as if she were some specimen under glass for him to observe.

"Can I help you?" Khoal asked in a flat, nearly emotionless tone as she stood in the doorway, after she found her voice once again. She did not like the way she was being observed by the Bioroid.

"I don't know," Forte said flatly, he then sighed. He then shook his head as he looked turned his gaze to the Gospel with another frown. 

"Come in," Khoal said, as she turned around and walked back inside of her lab. Not waiting for a reply. Gospel was happy to oblige as he walked in after the woman.

Forte stood in the hallway for a few moments longer before he stepped inside the lab after the woman. The door slid closed, with a light hiss, as soon as he passed the threshold.

****


End file.
